


Frumpkin's Nein

by dementorsatemysoup



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: But It Could Totally Be Platonic, Family Fluff, Father's Aren't Always The Best, Friendship, Frumpkin Is The Entire Group's Cat, Gen, Hints of Widomauk, Some angst, prison break - Freeform, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-27
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-14 07:58:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14765651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dementorsatemysoup/pseuds/dementorsatemysoup
Summary: Caleb offers his friends comfort the only way he knows how... through Frumpkin.





	Frumpkin's Nein

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying something new. Since one day The Mighty Nein could very well see themselves as family (maybe. like honestly who knows at this point) I decided to write some Family Fluff... Let's see how this goes
> 
> Thank you for reading :)
> 
> Rated T for Beau's potty mouth

They find Jester’s father in some rundown tavern on the outskirts of some podunk town. It’s obvious he practically lives on the bar stool he’s occupying, nursing drink after drink every night, and wracking up a bar tab that he can never begin to pay off.

The look on Jester’s face when she meets the man breaks the rest of the Neins’ hearts, but she tries to stay positive. Tries to have a conversation with the man who essentially abandoned her, but he mostly answers in grunts, only speaking to ask her if she has any money.

“C'mon, Jester,” Fjord says softly, gently gripping her elbow. She nods, head bent, sniffing loudly, and allows him to guide her towards the door.

Caleb can tell Beau wants to say something, her fists bunched up at her sides, posture rigid, jaw clenched, but she refrains, mostly for Jester’s sake, and storms out of the tavern after Fjord and Jester. Caleb and Molly trail behind them, Nott catching up a moment later, but when asked why she lagged behind she shrugged and said, “No reason.”

Caleb suspects she slipped something into Jester’s father’s drink, but he can’t prove it. He doesn’t want to prove it. The man probably deserves it.

They make it back to the cart a few minutes later. Jester hops up into the cart, pulling her knees to her chest, and buries her face in her arms. Caleb snaps his fingers, summoning Frumpkin, and watches as the cat hops up next to her, rubbing his face against her side.

She looks up, eyes sparkling with tears, and scoops the cat up, burying her face in his fur. Nott scrambles up next to her, putting her arms around her neck, and says something quietly to her. Jester giggles, shaking her head, and Nott smiles.

“Wanna drive the cart?” Fjord asks, appearing at Caleb’s side.

“Ja. Ja okay.”

He squeezes Caleb’s shoulder before he walks away, and Caleb knows it means more than just a simple thank you for driving the cart. He ducks his head, trying to hide his shy smile, and hurries towards the front of the cart.

They don’t stop until they’re a few towns over, putting as much distance between themselves and Jester’s father as they can before exhaustion forces them to bunk down for the night. They leave their cart and horses with a stablehand, Molly tipping him a few too many gold pieces, and they head towards the nearest tavern.

While Fjord deals with paying for their rooms, Caleb settles himself down at a table and opens his book. Jester sits next to him, Frumpkin held tightly in her arms, and she softly says, “Thank you, Caleb.”

“Anytime,” he murmurs, hiding another smile behind his book.

* * *

Molly shuffles down the hall, one arm wrapped around his torso, wincing with every step he takes. Beau and Jester hover over him, waiting for him to fall over, but he waves off their concern, giving them both a strained smile, insisting that he is fine.

He’s far from fine. He hit the wall hard during their last fight, and Caleb swears he saw a crack running down the wood. Jester healed him as best as she could, but she’d been running low on spells. She promised to help him more tomorrow.

They settle him down onto a bed, Jester hurrying down the stairs to get him something cold to place on his ribs, while Beau snorts softly next to him, shaking her head.

“Never saw someone fly like that,” she says, and Molly laughs, wincing.

“Don’t make me laugh,” he gasps, holding his side tighter.

“Sorry. Sorry.”

Caleb hovers in the doorway, watching the scene, and snaps his fingers. Frumpkin appears at Molly’s side, batting gently at his hand with his paw, and Molly looks over at him, a soft smile on his face.

“Hello,” he says, allowing the cat to climb onto his lap. Absently, he runs his fingers through Frumpkin’s fur, his eyes snapping up to meet Caleb’s. He nods in thanks, continuing to pet the cat, and Caleb dips his head before ducking back into the hallway.

* * *

Beau weaves through the streets, singing loudly, swinging a bottle of ale back and forth. She has one arm slung over Nott’s shoulders, the other looped through Jester’s, and she looks as if one good breeze is going to knock her over.

“Fuck fathers,” she snaps suddenly, cutting off her singing. “Fuck ‘em all.”

“Hear, hear,” Nott exclaims, holding up her flask.

“Yeah!” Beau knocks her bottle against Nott’s flask, hiccuping loudly, and drains the rest of the ale. She tosses it over her shoulder, knocking Caleb in the head with it, and swears. “Fuck! I am so sorry!”

“It is fine,” Caleb says softly, rubbing his aching skull. He moves to retrieve the bottle, tucking it away in his bag to throw away later, and continues to follow the girls back to the inn.

When they walk through the doors, Beau releases Jester and Nott and stumbles towards a chair by the fire. She drops into it, taking a folded piece of paper from her pocket, and tosses it into the flames. She watches it burn, a brooding look on her face, and Caleb snaps his fingers.

Frumpkin appears on her shoulder, rubbing his face against her cheek, and she reaches up to pet him, her face softening (as much as it can where Beau is concerned). When she looks back at Caleb, he quickly looks away.

* * *

Fjord sits against the wall of the second hand shop, elbows on his thighs, chin resting in his hands. He’s bored, it’s obvious, but he’s too polite to tell the others (particularly Jester) that he doesn’t necessarily want to be here. Caleb feels a little bad for him; the rest of the party had essentially dragged him out shopping while Beau and Nott slept off their hangovers.

Fjord trails his fingers through the dust on the floor, doodling idly, only to jump when Frumpkin appears next to him. He sneezes, once, twice, three time, and looks up at Caleb.

“Uh, can you…?” he sneezes again. “Can you call your cat…?” he sneezes a fifth time, gently pushing Frumpkin off his lap. “I’m gonna go…” he has a sneeze attack as he hurries out of the shop, Frumpkin trailing behind him, and Caleb snickers softly.

“Where did Fjord go?” Jester asks, appearing at his side.

“He had some errands to run. Said he’d meet us back at the inn.”

Eyeing him suspiciously, Jester says, “Okaaaay.”

When they return to the inn, Fjord appears at Caleb’s side and grabs his arm, spinning him around and dragging him outside. He fixes Caleb with an unreadable look for a good ten seconds before huffing, amused. “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

* * *

Caleb notices that Yasha doesn’t usually share rooms with the group. For the most part, she sleeps in the cart, arms crossed against her chest, sword always within reach. Everyone in their group has offered up their rooms countless times, but she always politely brushed off their concern, telling them she’s fine.

When asked, Molly tells them this is just what Yasha does; she’ll come around eventually. They just had to give her time. That doesn’t stop Jester from worrying about her, and she always tries to give Yasha extra blankets whenever they stop at a tavern for the night.

Caleb watches Yasha from the window of his and Nott’s room, watching her burrow into her shawl, shivering slightly, and he snaps his fingers. She’s startled when Frumpkin appears next to her, but she smiles, letting him jump onto her shoulders and drape his body across the back of her neck Her eyes trail up to meet Caleb’s and she waves.

He waves back and steps away from the window.

* * *

Nott scrambles through the alleyway, trying to avoid the grasping hands of the guard chasing after her, hitting her shoulder on the edge of a brick wall. She cries out in pain, looking frantically for a place to hide, shouting in surprise when something lands on her good shoulder.

She looks over, seeing Frumpkin perched on her shoulder, hissing at the guard closing in on her. Gasping for breath, she says, “H-help me.”

Frumpkin dips his head and points towards a nearby turn with his paw. Nodding, Nott follows his directions, squeezing into a narrow alleyway, hurrying as quickly as she can towards the back. When she bursts out into the crowd, Frumpkin digs his claws into her arm, getting her attention.

He nods his head towards an empty vegetable stand and Nott runs towards it, squeezing herself underneath it, watching with wide eyes as the guard come sprinting around the corner, skidding to a halt next to the narrow alleyway. He looks around, grumbling under his breath, and stalks away in the opposite direction.

“Thank you,” Nott whispers to Frumpkin. “Thank you so much.”

She waits a good ten minutes before squirming out from under the stand, hurrying back towards The Black Flagon. The tavern is just within eyesight when Caleb hurries to her side, kneeling down next to her, resting his hand on her good shoulder.

“Are you okay?” he asks worriedly.

“I’m fine.” She turns to Frumpkin, who’s slowly rocking back and forth on her shoulder, and smiles at him. She turns back to Caleb and asks, “Was that you?”

“Ja.” He nods slowly.

She throws her arms around his neck, ignoring the way her shoulder stings with pain, and whispers, “Thank you.”

* * *

Caleb gets arrested around midday. He’s caught trying to slip an arcana book into his bag, guards appearing ridiculously fast and putting chains on his wrists. He dares not try fighting them, knowing there are far too many even for his magic, and allows them to take him to the dungeons.

They take his books and his bag, throwing him into a cold, dark cell, and leave him alone. He hurries to the barred window above the cell, letting in minimal light, and summons Frumpkin.

“Let the others know,” he says softly and Frumpkin hurries off, slipping in between villagers’ feet. Caleb watches until he can no longer see his cat. He backs into a wall, sliding to the floor, and huddles into himself.

He tries not to flash back to the last time he found himself in a cell, long before Nott showed up. He remembers the snarled threats, the way the guards rattled the bars with their swords, keeping him awake. The beatings didn’t start until after Nott showed up, and mostly they’d been to intimidate not to cause lasting damage, but even so he’d like to avoid those this time around if he can help it.

An hour passes before Nott’s small voice whispers in his ear, “ _Caleb, we’re coming to get you. I hope you are alright. Hold tight. You can respond to this message.”_

“I am fine,” he whispers back, leaning his head against the wall.

A handful of hours come and go, and Caleb fears the others might not come for him, but his fears are put to rest when Nott appears in the window, Frumpkin sitting on her shoulder. He scrambles to his feet, hurrying towards the window, and whispers, “Hello.”

“Hello,” she greets with a worried smile. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Where are the others?”

Before Nott can respond, Caleb hears an explosion from up above, shaking the walls and knocking him to the floor, raining dust and stone down on him. He pushes himself to his knees, listening to the angry shouts and the familiar sounds of sword against sword, and he smiles up at Nott.

“We’re going to have to leave immediately,” he says and she nods.

“Cart’s already here. Get ready to make a break for it.”

Caleb pushes himself to his feet just as Molly and Beau come skidding around the corner, the latter holding a set of keys. She shoves them at Molly, turning to check for any stragglers coming down to stop them, and Molly grins at Caleb.

“Hello, darling,” he says, unlocking the cell door and handing Caleb his bag, books and holster already crammed inside.

“Mollymauk,” Caleb greets, his ears burning, a shy, yet grateful smile on his face.

“Ready to go?”

Caleb nods and hurries out of the cell, draping his bag over his shoulder, following Beau and Molly towards the stairs. They hear another explosion, Beau grabbing the wall for support while Molly and Caleb cling to each other to keep from falling, and the three look up when Jester yells, “At least you have a nice view now!”

“Hurry it up,” Fjord calls down the stairs, kicking a guard away from him, falchion swinging through the air as another advances on his right.

“Let’s go people!” Beau exclaims, running up the steps, taking the stairs two at a time, and Caleb feels Molly grab his hand, muttering something about not getting separated.

The first floor is in shambles. A huge hole in the south wall, another one in the ceiling, and guards are scrabbling all over the place trying to reclaim order. Fjord sees them appear at the top of the steps, knocks a guard back with a blast of arcane energy, and yells, “Let’s get the fuck outta here!”

They all sprint towards the exit, Nott already sitting on the cart, Frumpkin sitting next to her, and the rest of the Neins scramble into the back. The moment she’s sure they’re all aboard, she shakes the reigns, getting the horses into gear, and they hightail it out of town.

They don’t stop for a long while, putting as much distance between them and that town as they can, but finally Nott slows the horses down, allowing them to rest. Jester laughs jovially next to Caleb, clapping her hands, and yells, “I can’t believe that worked, you guys!”

“I can’t believe no one died,” Beau comments, shaking out her bleeding hand. “Might have broken my hand, though.”

“Well we can obviously never go back there,” Molly says quickly, looking over Beau’s hand. “I think you just sprained it.”

“Lemme see.” Jester crawls over Fjord, knocking the air out of him with her knee, and plants herself in between Beau and Molly, fussing over Beau’s hand.

“You came for me,” Caleb says softly, still a little surprised they showed up. He knew Nott would be there, but a part of him had been convinced the others wouldn’t have put forth the effort.

“Course we did,” Fjord says with a kind smile, placing his hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “Weren’t gonna leave you there, now were we?”

“Nott would have killed us in our sleep,” Molly jokes, giving Caleb a reassuring smile, and Nott nods in agreement (Caleb is pretty sure he’s the only one who notices).

“Plus, like, man, come on, how am I supposed to punch people if we don’t have your dancing lights shit?” Beau asks, wincing when Jester tightens the knots on the bandage around her hand.

“I would never leave you,” Nott exclaims, giving him an affronted look for even suggesting she would.

“I know,” Caleb murmurs dipping his head in shame.

Jester scrambles over their friends, throwing her arms around his neck, pressing her cheek onto the top of his head, and says, “You are our friend, Caleb! And if breaking you out of jail  means we can never, ever go back to that town then it’s worth it!”

Molly shrugs. “It’s not the first town I’ve been kicked out of.”

“We weren’t exactly kicked out,” Fjord chimes in, wiping blood from his lip.

Molly waves his hand. “I see no difference.”

Fjord snorts but refrains from commenting.

“We’re kinda fugitives guys,” Beau points out, grinning.

“Yasha will never believe this!” Jester lets Caleb go, scrambling towards the front of the cart, asking Nott, “Can you send Yasha a message? Let her know?”

“She’s probably too far away,” Nott replies but when Jester frowns she says, “but I can try.”

“Okay.”

As the rest of the Neins start to settle down, Frumpkin slowly trots towards Caleb, plopping himself down in his lap, and begins to purr.

“ _Danke_ ,” he whispers to the cat.


End file.
